A kind of ‘Godfather with Borscht’, Cronenberg's latest thriller was screened at the opening night gala of the London Film Festival.This tale of assassination, revenge and deceit is based on a script by Steve Knight, whose researches into the exploitation of London’s migrant workers resulted in ‘Dirty Pretty things’ . ‘Eastern Promises’ explores the same territory, with a focus this time round on the activities of notorious London crime brotherhood Vory V Zakone. Knowing how to make a corpse unidentifiable or where to dump a body so the current will carry it under the Thames Barrier are trade secrets in this alternative world of insignia tattooed on knee-caps, cut-throat razors and multi-coloured caviar. In what must this year’s most toe-curling film sequence a bath-house inmate’s genitals swing in uncomfortable proximity to assassins’ blades as elderly regulars scurry for the changing rooms .

Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts) is a midwife at a London Hospital where an anonymous teenage girl gives birth. The girl dies on the operating table, leaving only a baby daughter and a diary in Russian as clues to her past. Anna seeks the help of her uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski )for help with translating the diary to locate the girl’s family and visits a restaurant called The Trans-Siberian where she believes the girl may have worked. Here she becomes mixed up in a world unknown to the closed-curtain respectability of ordinary Londoners

Stylishly directed, the authentically realised scenes, from an opulent but menacing Russian restaurant to the steamy bath-house and glittering rain-soaked London Streets make the film eminently watchable. A superb cast of villains are headed by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), the scaly-skinned boss whose restaurant, complete with sentimental folk-singers serenading old ladies, is a front for their nefarious activities. His loose-cannon son Kirill (Vincent Cassel), high on malice and vodka, is both guided and protected by angular-cheeked Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen),seemingly the most deadly of the sinister trio.

Not for the faint-hearted, this slice of gritty realism is rooted in issues of current concern. According to the script-writer a toned down version of the horrors he uncovered, it offers surprises as well as the prospect of good deeds rewarded.

I'll be giving this a miss, Cornelia - too bloody for me but thanks for the review. Have you seen Once yet?

You are quite right - it is very grisly. I seem to have the knack of being scared and horrified and reminding myself it's just a film all at the same time.I really had to do that at the climax of the bath-house scene, which I won't spoil for anyone else by describing. I found it much more depressing to sit through a DVD of 'Downfall' with my partner the other night, about Hitler and his supporters in his Berlin bunker as the war ended.

Yes, I am looking forward to 'Once', recommended by friends, and given a good review in 'Sight and Sound'. I remember seeing the male lead giving a sympathetic performance in one of my favourite Irish films, 'The Commitments'. My most favourite, for sentimental reasons, is 'Hear My Song'.

Sheila

I'm longing to see this - heard Cronenberg speaking about it recently and it sounds wonderful. Just my type of film.

Sarah

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wonderful is probably not the best word... intriguing perhaps would have been better!